“Lord of the Flies” is a classic fiction novel by William Golding about a group of boys stranded on an island trying to survive. The novel starts with Ralph and Piggy learning that they are on a stranded island. Ralph alerts the other boys on the island by blowing on a conch shell that Piggy found. Ralph governs the group as they vote for a leader, and Ralph wins. Ralph calls an assembly using the conch shell as a speaking piece. One of the youngest boys takes it and talks about his fear of a “beasty” lurking on the island. Ralphs instructs the boys to light a fire as a signal for any ships passing by. As Jack hunts, a ship passes by but Jack is too focused on hunting to notice. Ralph confronts the group at a meeting while trying to make rules to combat their failures. Jack disagrees with Ralph believing that he should be the leader instead of Ralph. Jack leaves and starts his tribe causing a split between Ralph's tribe and Jack’s tribe. One of the boys Simon has a delusion of a pig head talking to him, causing him to pass out. When Simon wakes up he looks for the beast and finds out it's not a beast. Simon arrives and the boys murder him believing he is the beast. Ralph and Piggy go to confront Jack's tribe but they kill Piggy and injure Ralph. Jack’s tribe burns down the island, and as this is happening Ralph dodges Jacks tribe and finds an officer standing at the edge of the island. Ralph and the rest of the boys break down while Ralph tries to explain what happened.
I was very intrigued by how the characters govern themselves in different circumstances because it showed the depth of these characters. I was also very intrigued by how Jack and Ralph's mindset changed after being on the island for an extended time. This book was also very entertaining through the interactions between the characters, the environmental changes, and the mindset changes. All these things were very well written and gave depth to these characters leading me (the reader) to want to know more. This novel focuses on issues of people and how they can change drastically depending on the situation. Jack is a good example, he started as a boy who was scared to kill a pig. In contrast to the end of the book when he was ok with murdering two innocent boys. Another issue is how people struggle with leadership and rebelliousness. This issue can be mostly found with Ralph and Jack. Ralph wants to make rules and be civil. Jack does not feel that he has to listen to him because he does more than Ralph, making him think of himself as better. This leads to a rebellion because of pride and the inherent issues of the human mind. “The Hunger Games” by Suzanne Collins supports the author's opinion by showing how people do disgusting things based on circumstances and how the human mind can react in different situations. This topic gives insight into other places in the world where people become less civilized based on environments and interactions with other people.
“Lord of the Flies” is a book that showcases how humans interact under different circumstances. Through the characters, the author conveys the two sides of civilization and chaos. The author is also able to convey innocence and many other complexities. In conclusion, this book is a very good representation of civilization clashing with humans.
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